Cycling 2013

[Real ale Madrid]

Thanks for the updates and good twitter feeds - fingers crossed for him now....

[Mr A]

Martin wins!

[Real ale Madrid]

So Martin takes the win and the overall race lead! Sounds like a super effort.


Or Edit:

Daniel Martin (Garmin) es el guanyador de la 4a etapa de la Volta al cim de Port Ainé.

És el nou lider.

Now that I think of it - that's probably Catalan - not Spanish.

[Dodge]

Great win. Martin has 10 second lead over Rodriguez overall

[Mr A]

Meanwhile Deignan is 10th in Coppi e Bartali after stage 2. Brameier was on the attack yesterday in Dwars door Vlaanderen but couldn't make it stick.

[Mr A]

Last few K for Martin:

http://www.irishcyclingphotos.com/?p=11386

[swinfordfc]

Great ride by him yestarday - fair play - hope he can hold onto it now till end but it be hard to keep J Rod away with only a 10secs lead gap.

[Mr A]

Martin 9th today and he seems to have picked up some bonus seconds so now leads by 14 seconds. The lead I got from the Omega Pharma Quickstep twitter- remains to be confirmed obviously.

[Dodge]

He got 1 second in an intermediate sprint. Rodriguez went for it too. That's a great sign.

Then a slight split in the pack saw Rodriguez lose another 3 seconds. Stage winners get 10 bonus seconds and Rodriguez heavily tipped to win in Barcelona. This cushion should help dan

[Mr A]

He has added another 3 seconds to his lead with a bonification today. 17 seconds lead now.

[Stuttgart88]

He's won it. Didn't he win Poland a few years back too?

[swinfordfc]

He's won it. Didn't he win Poland a few years back too?

He did in 2011 and finish second in it last year behind Peter Sagan

[Mr A]

Very exciting heading into the hilly Northern classics- but it'll be harder for him now as a seriously marked man.

[Mr A]

3rd for Dan Martin at Fleche Wallonne! Edit: Dang, it's a 'mere' fourth.

[swinfordfc]

3rd for Dan Martin at Fleche Wallonne! Edit: Dang, it's a 'mere' fourth.

Great result considering he had a puntured 22km out and had the hammer down just to get back to the peleton!!!

[Stuttgart88]

Martin wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege! Very powerful and mature finish.

[Mr A]

Dan Martin! Dan Martin FFS! YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And saying all the right things: http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/ive-won-the-biggest-classic-of-the-year-clean-its-an-incredible-feeling-im-stunned/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4O5bb2XDdc

"Dan Martin ‏@DanMartin86 2h

Still in shock here. Team rode unbelievably well. Made my job easy. Thanks so much to them. I just won liege bastogne liege. #wow"

[Macy]

Brilliant win, brilliantly executed by Garmin too. Seems to be a good vibe between him and Hesjedal all spring. You could see Dan holding back when the group were coming to Hesjedal, like he was feeling that good he was struggling not to close the gap. If he does nothing else his entire career he has a monument. And Lombardy to come.

He hinted it in at least one interview I read yesterday, that he doesn't know whether he'll focus on Grand Tours or classics. You'd have to think he has potential in races like Milan San Remo and Flanders as well The Ardennes.

[Dodge]

The 3 best wins of his career now have all been through different methods. Vuelta stage was winning sprint from elite selection. Catalunya queen stage this year was a solo breakaway. Yesterday saw him bide his time after Jesjedal did all the work, leaving Dan with all the energy to catch and pass Rodriguez. The podium yesterday contained probably the 2 best climber/classic specialists of the last 10 years (drugs aside) and Dan won EASILY.

Great to see

[gastric]

My sporting hero was Sean Kelly and still remains so today. However, like many cynicism replaced belief in riders' success. Martin comes across as a level headed and modest individual who may reignite interest in Ireland in the sport of cycling. I for one will be watching him!

[Mr A]

More on Martin and his anti doping stance: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vaughters-on-martins-liege-win-and-anti-doping-stance

[Mr A]

Another interview with Martin: http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/sitting-down-daniel-martin?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Story-_-martin-interview

[Mr A]

Conor McConvey wins the first stage of the 2.2 rated Tour of Azerbaijan. Edit: No he didn't. Apparently he swapped numbers with a team mate and it was actually Christoph Schweizer that won. Mental.

[Stuttgart88]

Are Roche and Martin in their teams for the Giro?

[Mr A]

No, neither doing the Giro. I'd say both will do the Tour though.

[Mr A]

Deignan wins the Tour of the Gila! Super stuff.

[Mr A]

Dan Martin Interview: www.velonation.com/News/ID/14535/Dan-Martin-video-interview-Next-target-Tour-de-France-but-I-wont-make-predictions.aspx

[Mr A]

Another great ride from Deignan taking 3rd on the stage in California in punishing heat. Epic attack seemed like it was going to stick but caught with under 2km to go.

Came across this interview as well.. http://www.tourofthegila.com/video-philip-deignan/

[BonnieShels]

McQuaid nominated by Swiss Cycling for UCI President on the basis of his residency there.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cycling/2013/0516/450625-mcquaid-bid-endorsed-by-switzerland/

[Stuttgart88]

Have they no (a) shame, or (b) candidates of their own?

[BonnieShels]

Have they no (a) shame, or (b) candidates of their own?

Shame. Definitely shame. He even said in that article that he is a "great friend of Swiss cycling".

Gah.

[Real ale Madrid]

Have they no (a) shame, or (b) candidates of their own?

This is the thing though - will anyone run against him? That's a big issue for me also, if cycling was so concerned to clean up its image - surely there would be a clamor of people looking for the biggest job in the sport?

[Mr A]

It's tricky enough to get nominated I think, and if people feel PMcQ can't be beaten they may not bother. But yeah, it'd be great to see a credible rival emerge.

[the 12 th man]

Does anybody know if the details for spectators for the individual stages are released yet for Le Tour this year,caravan time arrival, race time arrival for each town along a particular stage?,I seem to remember the official Tour site used to tell you the approx times but i can't seem to find it on this years site.

[Macy]

I would've said that cyclingnews have some of those details, but they don't appear to have stage details yet. I guess if you could find stage start times, you could relieve maths exams past - if the peloton leaves town x at time y travelling at an average speed z, what time will it hit the intermediate sprint? :)

[the 12 th man]

I would've said that cyclingnews have some of those details, but they don't appear to have stage details yet. I guess if you could find stage start times, you could relieve maths exams past - if the peloton leaves town x at time y travelling at an average speed z, what time will it hit the intermediate sprint? :)

Thanks Macy,there's not much detail there,even the enroute towns for the hotspots doesn't appear available yet,I was able to see the times that it would be in a certain town the last time I went to see a stage a few years back,I'm planning on getting to see Stage 5 this year but all I really know is where the start and finish are.

[the 12 th man]

Reading the forum in cycling news they reckon the Stage profiles will be out in the next 1/2 weeks,very close to the start this year.

[swinfordfc]

Think Dan Martin will be the leader of the Garmin team in the Le Tour........

[Stuttgart88]

That'd be interesting. Is that substantiated? What's the story with Hesjedal?

[Macy]

Dan Martin has said he'll be a co-leader with Hesjedal, and then the road will decide. Seems amicable, not what might have happened at Sky had Wiggins been there. He quoted how they worked it at Liege as an example of how they hoped to use their cards on tour. I think that's what he said it on Today with Pat Kenny (Myles Duggan standing in) yesterday (he's been putting in the media work the last few days). Not a bad bit of cycling coverage for mainstream media actually, Dan Martin and Lawrence Roche on (separately).

[Mr A]

The Indo will have a lot of coverage:
Visit www.independent.ie/kimmage for the daily video diary and news related to the Tour. You can also read Nicolas Roche’s regular diary in the Irish Independent, where the Dubliner lets us into the secrets of the peleton.

Interesting dynamic there given that Kimmage seems to let his problems with Roche Snr spill over into his feeling on Nicholas at times.

[swinfordfc]

Nicolas tour is ruin this year as he only be helping out Contador ... wont even make the top 20 .......

[Mr A]

On the other hand he may get to make a few attempts on stages. A lot depends on whether they have him or Kreuziger are last support for Contador. Saxo may well aim to get a second man finishing well as Contador can't score world tour points. Roche could still finish well overall but it won't be his main aim any more. He could do well in the Vuelta though.

Garmin look very strong:

Talansky Martin Hesjedal Navardauskas Dennis Danielson Bauer Vandevelde Millar

A lot of talent in there- and appears to be all out for mountains / GC. No Farrar.

[Dodge]

Nicolas tour is ruin this year as he only be helping out Contador ... wont even make the top 20 .......

Top 20 doesn't mean much. He's had some of them. Time he tried something different.

[swinfordfc]

Top 20 doesn't mean much. He's had some of them. Time he tried something different.

He wont win any stages either - not good enough!!!!

[Mr A]

That's very harsh. He gave it a right rattle on a few stages last year despite being a GC contender. Roche gets a rough old time from a lot of commentators and fans IMO.

[swinfordfc]

That's very harsh. He gave it a right rattle on a few stages last year despite being a GC contender. Roche gets a rough old time from a lot of commentators and fans IMO.

He had a rattle at some stages cause he knew he was gone in the GC - I doubt he be aloud to go for a stage this year as he will be a helper for Contrador .... but time will tell

If he was to win a stage then yes his Tour would be great but i cant see him winning one ......

[bennocelt]

Anyone have a quick link to route of this years T de France? Thanks:)

[Mr A]

Does this help? http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stages

[bennocelt]

Does this help? http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stages

Thanks man, unfortunately nothing too close to Switzerland, alas next year maybe!